sulky lad wrote:I reckon I'm a fairly knowledgeable football fan and I didn't know Ryan boy was of mixed race and I doubt SLL would have deliberately been racist about the Welsh wonder (sic) had he known, but for heaven's sake, if he molted every year to get a winter coat. Old Trafford would be knee deep in pubes by November !!! He is incredibly hirsute but as the Kennel Club says "Beautifully marked and almost completely house-trained"

Probably too late for this, but here are "Six Great Facts About Ryan Giggs"

( evidence for the defense - if last season had started in November - ok I accept that is a really big IF with 2 defeats in 24 and one of those by the cheating red s***e we would have only been topped by MUFC and now we've got everyone fit)

so who do we think will come second?

My heart says Blackpool my head says Arsenal with MU and Spurs coming next in that order.

Three for the parachute payments : the 3 "W"s - Wigan, West Brom and Liverpool

No big Football aficionado but I see where Mr. Rooney is now staying in Manchester with what would seem to be a salary of near $300,000.00 a week- a man has to live! For the record looked at his statistics for the season to date- 1 goal and that came on a penalty kick. Great deal!!! Looks like a Yankee contract from the old days.

"....there's a merry song that starts in 'I' and ends in 'You', as many famous pop songs do....'

This is what I don't understand about this Rooney thing. And I may be wrong in a big way , since I am new to this game, having started watching the games only a couple of years ago. My first introduction to ManU was the team that had Rudd something or other as the main goal scorer, with the red headed midfielder. That seemed like a good team to me, and exciting to watch. Ronaldo was just getting going then, doing lots of fancy stuff that frequently got him nothing but boos from the fans. But even I could see he was talented. Then his version of the team, with Rooney as a partner, and that other guy with the funny headband and fancy footwork was fun to watch. But Ronaldo leaves, and it's just Rooney and the older guys and some new guys with potential but who just don't score. The team was still successful, good coaching, mystique, and quality players, but it was clear even to me that a team like Chelsea's key players are far superior to their key players. For a team with ManU's tradition I found it odd that they would simply settle for a successful team, but a boring team that could only win the thing if the other top teams faltered. So when Rooney acted up and said i'm leaving since I don't see a commitment to winning I kind of thought he was right. Maybe there are subtleties to the ManU game these days or the approach of Sir Alex (by the way I loved the way he referred to Rooney recently as "the boy"; would never happen in US sports)that I am missing. Likely in fact, but I hope that Rooney's ploy gets them to bring in some new players.

This is what I don't understand about this Rooney thing. And I may be wrong in a big way , since I am new to this game, having started watching the games only a couple of years ago. My first introduction to ManU was the team that had Rudd something or other as the main goal scorer, with the red headed midfielder. That seemed like a good team to me, and exciting to watch. Ronaldo was just getting going then, doing lots of fancy stuff that frequently got him nothing but boos from the fans. But even I could see he was talented. Then his version of the team, with Rooney as a partner, and that other guy with the funny headband and fancy footwork was fun to watch. But Ronaldo leaves, and it's just Rooney and the older guys and some new guys with potential but who just don't score. The team was still successful, good coaching, mystique, and quality players, but it was clear even to me that a team like Chelsea's key players are far superior to their key players. For a team with ManU's tradition I found it odd that they would simply settle for a successful team, but a boring team that could only win the thing if the other top teams faltered. So when Rooney acted up and said i'm leaving since I don't see a commitment to winning I kind of thought he was right. Maybe there are subtleties to the ManU game these days or the approach of Sir Alex (by the way I loved the way he referred to Rooney recently as "the boy"; would never happen in US sports)that I am missing. Likely in fact, but I hope that Rooney's ploy gets them to bring in some new players.

alexv wrote:This is what I don't understand about this Rooney thing. And I may be wrong in a big way , since I am new to this game, having started watching the games only a couple of years ago. My first introduction to ManU was the team that had Rudd something or other as the main goal scorer, with the red headed midfielder. That seemed like a good team to me, and exciting to watch. Ronaldo was just getting going then, doing lots of fancy stuff that frequently got him nothing but boos from the fans. But even I could see he was talented. Then his version of the team, with Rooney as a partner, and that other guy with the funny headband and fancy footwork was fun to watch. But Ronaldo leaves, and it's just Rooney and the older guys and some new guys with potential but who just don't score. The team was still successful, good coaching, mystique, and quality players, but it was clear even to me that a team like Chelsea's key players are far superior to their key players. For a team with ManU's tradition I found it odd that they would simply settle for a successful team, but a boring team that could only win the thing if the other top teams faltered. So when Rooney acted up and said i'm leaving since I don't see a commitment to winning I kind of thought he was right. Maybe there are subtleties to the ManU game these days or the approach of Sir Alex (by the way I loved the way he referred to Rooney recently as "the boy"; would never happen in US sports)that I am missing. Likely in fact, but I hope that Rooney's ploy gets them to bring in some new players.

The problem is that the Glazer family need to service their debt, so the money you would expect to be poured back into new signings has gone elsewhere. That's what Rooney is getting at with his antics. In general you're correct that Man Utd has not done much to refresh its squad in recent years (Chicharito being a rare exception). I assume they've given Rooney assurances that there will be new players coming in to replace aging veterans like Giggs, Scholes and Van der Sar, but where that money will come from is anyone's guess.

The article below is a prime example of how the game is catching on over here. More on Rooney and the gang. Question for the group: why is the salary referenced in terms of weeks? Do they get paid for weeks played?

I too made the foolish mistake of captaining Ashley - if only I'd gone for Bale. I was thinking of selling him due to his refusal to turn it on in the Prem the way he does against Inter, but boy did he make me glad I didn't. On a good day he's unstoppably talented.